New Technologies Help Blind Read Text and Navigate Streets

Two students at the University of Washington have designed a new gadget that allows the blind to read non-Braille, called the Thimble. The invention, which slides over the pointer finger like a glove, has a camera and an electro-tactile grid in the finger tip which converts text into Braille. It can be used equally well to read signs or on-line content on a Smartphone via Bluetooth.

“Eyes-Free Android” has two new apps: the first, called Walky-Talky is a sort of on-foot GPS by the Eyes Free Project that speaks out step by step instructions and calls out useful street names and landmarks along the way. The second is called Intersection Explorer by Google, which calls out relevant landmarks in the surrounding, and allows the user to swipe the screen in a certain direction and get information about what lies there.